Friday, September 09, 2005

Rendering unto Caesar

UNLIKE many of Europe's cultural treasures, the monastery of Decani—a lovely mix of Romanesque architecture and Byzantine art—faces little risk from changes in the physical environment. In this wooded valley at the foot of a forbidding mountain, there is no ecological challenge comparable to the acid rain that erodes cathedrals in Cologne and Cracow.

Yet the 30 Serbian monks who man this 700-year-old redoubt face far more lethal dangers than that. Having suffered several mortar attacks since Kosovo became an international protectorate in 1999, the community's survival hangs by a thread; its sole guarantors are the Italian troops who patrol the unruly region in armoured cars. Take that guard away, and this medieval fortress would almost certainly suffer the fate of the 35 religious buildings that were damaged or wrecked by mobs during the two days of rioting, against Serbs and other non-Albanians, which shook the province last year.

So Decani's Father Sava Janjic, an internet-dextrous cleric known as the cyber-monk, is one of the many people who are watching nervously as the western powers that oversee Kosovo prepare for talks on the future of the province. The emotional stakes in Kosovo's bid for independence—massively backed by the ethnic Albanian majority—rose this week after the Kosovars' veteran leader, Ibrahim Rugova, said he had lung cancer.

“Whatever is decided about Kosovo's status, there will be a need for an international security force to guard places like this,” says Father Sava. He suggests that the care of Decani and other historic sites in Kosovo might be entrusted to an international body like the Council of Europe. “Above all, we don't want to be used by any side to stake out territory,” he insists.

Avoiding that danger—the use of holy sites and symbols to justify territorial claims—will be easier said than done. In several parts of the southern Balkans, religion, politics and diplomacy have recently become entangled in a messy way.

In Macedonia, a notionally religious dispute (pitting one Slavic Orthodox church against another) has led to a straining of ties with Serbia, with bizarre results. For example, a Serbian minister says he has held back two passenger aircraft which Serbia rents out to the Macedonian national airline—in part, at least, because of the general downturn in relations. The dispute has come to a head following the jailing in Skopje of a bishop, Jovan Vraniskovski—who is either (depending on your viewpoint) a pro-Serbian troublemaker who has sold out the Macedonian cause, or the only Orthodox prelate in the land whose office is valid in the eyes of the rest of the eastern Christian world.

How can a country that aspires to join the European Union go locking up clerics? In church matters, as in regional politics, Macedonia's Slavic majority feels it has struggled hard (and so far, unsuccessfully) to gain due recognition from its Balkan neighbours—each of which rests its position on passionately held views of history. And to cut a long, Byzantine story short, Macedonia's Orthodox church has been out of step with the rest of eastern Christendom since 1967, when (as part of communist Yugoslavia's political intrigues) it broke free from its Serb overlords.

Under Orthodox procedures, a national church usually gains independence by negotiation with its erstwhile masters. Bishop Jovan's camp says it is not against Macedonian self-government—but it must be negotiated, not asserted unilaterally. The first step should be reconciliation with Serbia. But to many people in Skopje (including those with zero interest in religion) this stance means betrayal of a country that is fighting an unequal battle to win the world's respect. “People feel their national identity is under attack,” says Ana Petruseva of the Balkans Investigative Reporting Network, a news service.

That is the background to the authorities' egregious treatment of Bishop Jovan. On July 27th, he was sentenced to at least 18 months in jail for “instigating national and religious hatred”. His dastardly crimes include printing calendars that reflect his view of church affairs, under which his authority is legitimate and that of his critics is not. The Supreme Court in Skopje may yet release him; but Bishop Jovan also faces separate charges of embezzling funds.

Meanwhile his opponents feel they are the victims. “It is not Jovan we are up against, but greater Serbian chauvinism,” laments Bishop Naum, a leading figure in the Macedonian church, reflecting the common view that the whole affair is a product of tricks hatched in Belgrade. His suspicions do not end there. He reckons that by meddling in Macedonian church politics, Serbia's authorities—both political and religious—are gearing up for a bigger contest in Montenegro, where a vote on independence may be held next year.

Bishop Naum may be exaggerating the tension in Montenegro, but his suspicions are not wholly absurd. As the “state union” between Serbia and Montenegro gets looser, the Serbian Orthodox church, and the federal army, are among the few agencies that straddle the two entities; and they co-operate. In July, the army sent helicopters to erect a small Orthodox church on Montenegro's Mount Rumija. To backers of independence, this act seemed like a provocation, organised from Belgrade.

Father Velibor Dzomic, a Serbian Orthodox priest in Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, disagrees: he says all his church wants is equality under the law—and protection from a new Montenegrin Orthodox church that challenges its status.

Even as they proclaim their love of Serbia, some priests in Montenegro give the impression that they are hedging their political bets and preparing for the day when Montenegro's ties with Belgrade are broken. Could this be so? “Our first concern”, insists Father Velibor, “is the kingdom of heaven.” If only that were always true.

16 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Milosevic picked Kingdom of Heaven, too. Soo innocent it makes me cry.Serb Orthodox Church is deeply involved in politics and as such nobody should be surprised when it suffered the consequences of dirty, violent Balkan politics.

Actually Father Sava is protecting old Catholic Albanian sites. The church of Decani can be traced back to an architect that designed other catholic sites in Croatia during the Roman times. He was Albanian. Albanians should be allowed to visit the church and convert to Orthodox Christianity if they want to. They should also be allowed Albanian clerics if they so desire. This way the church can survive. I think this would be fair democracy. After all religion is supposed to be an ideology promoting peace and tolerance.

Many of you blogger might be surprised. Kosovo/Kosova will not be independent. It will neither go back to the pre 1999 era. It will be a protectorate like Bosnia. Probably you know this, or at least, you feel it already.To 1.19 blogger; You must be joking. Should a church be guarded by some pyjamas dressed terrorists ? And something else, the Italian Kfor did not flee, they kicked ass like hell there. Just like the americans kicked asses in Gjilan. You are so misinformed and sometimes so stupid. Is it you media that is lying to you about all this with independency etc. Chill out or go and play doctor with some girls.See ya !

Since we're being lied by the media, where did you get your info? And nobody asked for your opinion whether KosovA will be or not independent. you can do nothing about it, like the whole serbian kingdom. I also think that you are confusing the march riots that the blogger was talking about with the war of 1999 . In that case I agree with you, Italians and my favorite ones, Americans kicked major ass; I wish they do it again - it's fun to watch.

blogger 2.03 makes a very good point. if not for converting to christianity we should protect the churches out of respect, for being part of our history and most importantly for the christian minority that we have in albania. now as far as the priest being jailed in macedonia i am for that. the idea is this. every one accepts that vatican is the center of catholic christians but not even one sane italian would say that every one that is catholic is of italian minority. when it comes to orthodox christians there is not a center. Grece, Russia or Serbia do not satisfy the criteria. why? I was born an orthodox albanian (now anagnostic) and the fact that grece claims that each orthodox albanian is part of the grece minority in albania and therefore south of albania is and should be part of grece pisses me off so much. i do not want to remind them of cameria cause if i do i'll punch their teeth out first. the same goes for russia and serbia. Now, if some one who can keep their calm, can you tell me why should the macedonians allow this priest preach that the church should be under the serbian one. so Serbia can claim macedonia as its own? the author of this report says very clearly that religion is being used for political and territorial resons. not right, very very wrong. i am not saying this out of hatred for this religion, no, i respect every one whether they believe or not. i hate it when religion is used as a tool for political gains and other things.

"one of the oldest people in the world" hahahahahahah only a stupid insecure sheep fucker could say something as moronic as that, as if ALL the people of the world are not desending from "the oldest people in the world". dude show ME SHOW ONE THREAD OF EVIDENCE THAT SHOWS EVEN AN A IN ALBANIA FROM THE ILLIRIAN CULTURE (and dont give me the albanoi tribe bullshit caue if u are basing ur argument on that i can point the baku and azeri albania where u really came from). show ur "albanian and illirian connection" culture, art, monuments etc etc etc that were from the illirian times, show me when was the first time that the word ALBANIAN WAS USED - IT WAS IN THE 12th CENTURY!!! not 4, 10 or 20 thousand years ago. it is a know fact that all of the people of the balkans share common ansestors, now that fact that the albos have no culture and nothing of their own to be proud of is another issue. SHOW ME ONE, JUST ONE ALBANIAN SOURCE PRIOR TO THE 19TH CENTURY THAT CLAIMS U ARE THE ILLIRIANS??????!?!?!?!?! HAHAHAHAHAH U WILL NEVER FIND ONE!! NEVER!!! u guys started to lay cliam to that thoery in the 19th cent. after u saw the croats and serbs doing so as well. be original for once. and for ur info there are many muslim serbs in sandjak and bosnia and catholic serbs in dalmatia, and guess waht they were traitors just like u guys were to ur christian faith. check this out idiota:

Continuity in BalkansDespite the multiethnic nature of the Balkans, it seems that most inhabitants of the peninsula share common ancestors. Scientists feel that we will have a better picture of these ethnic trajectories within the next several years. The genetic marker M170 appears to have come from the Middle East to the Balkan region roughly 20,000 years ago. It seems today that this marker is unique to the Balkans area, though research suggests that about 80% of European genetic stock goes back to Paleolithic period.

To the idiot blogger above, just last week an 8 thousand years old habitation was unearthed from the region of th Enkelei tribe. The day before that a 10 thousand year old graveyard was found in the region of Korce. Meanwhile the Serbs have been in the Balkans for a maximum of 1 300 years.

Is this someone from the European Donkeys, wooops my bad Europeann tigers talking? Why cant it be proven because that's what your terrorist pedofile priest told you? Open Encarta Encyclopedia sometimes, its good to free yourself from the fatal fumes of the Serbian church and State propaganda.

Serbs have played a prominent role in the development of the arts and sciences. Prominent individuals have included the scientists Nikola Tesla, Mihajlo Pupin, Jovan Cvijic, Milutin Milanković and Mileva Maric (mathematician and Albert Einstein's first wife); the famous composer Josip Runjanin; Rudjer Boscovich's father was Serb. In the United States, two Serbs are NBA stars: Vlade Divac and Peja Stojaković and actress Mila Jovović's father is Serbian.The mother of the last (Eastern) Roman Emperor Constantine XI Paleologos Dragases was Serbian princess Helene Dragas, and he liked to be known by her Serbian surname of Dragas.According to the National Enquirer, author Ian Fleming patterned James Bond after Dusko Popov, a Serbian double agent nicknamed Tricycle.Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed Slavonic March (Marche Slave) in 1876 known at first as the “Serbo-Russian March” based on Serbian folk melodies as “Come, my dearest, why so sad this morning?”

Of course, a lot of f.e. world politicians are in some way connected to Serbs. But this list lists people intimately connected to Serbia or Serbs.Madeleine Albright (saved by Serbs in Second World War)Josip Broz (was married to Jovanka Broz Budisavljević)Major Richard L. Felman (USAF, ret.)Pierre-Henri BunelLuc Besson (was married to Milla Jovovich)Patrick BessonAlbert Einstein (was married to Mileva Maric)Mira Furlan (married to Goran Gajić)Prentis Cobb Hale (married to Denise Minnelli Hale)Peter HandkeLottar Matthaus (coached FK Partizan Beograd)Francis MackenzieVincente Minnelli (married to Denise Minnelli Hale)Archibald Reiss publicist, a professor, famous criminologistMonica Seles (tennis player; an ethnic Hungarian born in Vojvodina)Daniel ShiferAleksandar Solovjev (Александр Соловьёв)Sir John Tavener (composed: The Epistile of Love and The Veil of the Temple on Serbian Medieval Poetry)Henry McIver soldier of fortune - Serbian general de brigade[edit]Serbian language speakers, learners, etc.

the modern Albanians were not mentioned in Byzantine chronicles until 1043, although Illyria was part of the Byzantine Empire, and since the Illyrians are referred to for the last time as an ethnic group in Miracula Sancti Demetri (7th century AD.), some scholars maintain that after the arrival of the Slavs the Illyrians were extinct. [3](see the Jireček Line) it is believed that most inhabitants of Illyria were Hellenized (the Southern part) and later Romanized (opponents say that some Illyrians were not Hellenized or Romanized, but maintained their own language, which may have been a proto-Albanian language). [4]most Illyrian toponyms, hydronyms, names, and words have not been shown to be related to Albanian, and they do not indicate that Illyrians spoke a proto-Albanian language (opponents say that many of these toponyms, hydronyms and names are Hellenized and Romanized; whether the change in form is dramatic or not is hard to know in a number of cases).ancient Illyrian toponyms (such as Shkoder from the ancient Scodra, Tomor from ancient Tomarus) were not directly inherited in Albanian, as their modern names do not correspond to the phonetic laws of Albanian [5]a number of scholars believe that Illyrian was a Centum language, though others disagree. If Illyrian was Centum, then it is unlikely that Albanian (which is Satem) is an Illyrian language

I am an orthodox Albanian so i am not down with burning churches, but unfortunately the churches have been used to organize the community in anti-albanian violence. Yet that specific monastery is quite safe. Last night I was talking to the people you expect to burn this stuf down (from Decan) and they seemed quite content with its existence, although Decan is where some of the worst fighting and attrocities happened